We are delighted to host this special event with Judy Ling Wong OBE, who will talking about her work with the Black Environment Network (BEN).

Judy will be speaking about the reality of organisations, like BEN, that may not be heavily archive-focused, but have over years been utilising material collections of technical, political and societal interest.

Judy will discuss BEN’s recent encounters that have taken us towards a new appreciation of archives that reveal why our natural and built landscape is the way it is, and how various aspects benefit only particular sections of society.

As Judy asserted in 1987, “There is no such thing as a purely environmental initiative. A so-called purely environmental initiative is one that has rejected its social, cultural and economic dimensions.”

Judy will share something of what BEN holds, and their potential for giving a full picture of the journey towards full multicultural environmental participation.

This event is part of a series of events related to the LSE Library’s current exhibition: “Clothing this Naked Earth”: Politics and the Planet”. There will be a small in-person audience with Judy in the Library, or you can join us to watch online. Find out more about the work of BEN on their website.

About the speakers

Judy Ling Wong is a painter, poet, environmental activist, and Honorary President of the Black Environment Network (BEN). Black Environment Network (BEN) builds full multicultural environmental participation, addressing barriers to release the contribution of ethnic minorities in the care and protection of people and planet.

Tanya Matthan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Drawing on political ecology, critical agrarian studies, and the anthropology of finance, her work examines the socio-material life in risk in central India. Tanya holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of California Los Angeles and an M.A. and MPhil in Sociology from the University of Delhi.

The British Library of Political and Economic Science (@LSELibrary) was founded in 1896, a year after the London School of Economics and Political Science. It has been based in the Lionel Robbins Building since 1978 and houses many world class collections, including The Women's Library.